1 Monatiquot River Basin - From 1683 to 1854, shipbuilding dominated this small harbor, now with small
industrial buildings fronting Allen Street. It is planned
for renewal with a walking path along the water.
2 Monatiquot Bridge - A short bridge on Shaw Street
crosses the Monatiquot, a stream that extends
through the town from here to South Braintree.
3 Commercial Street - A major route between
Boston and Plymouth since 1640, this street retains
buildings from its colonial shipbuilding past.
4 Major Edmund Soper House [170 Commercial St.]
- An early Braintree house, built in 1772.
5 Peleg Jordan/Edward Pratt house [140 Commercial
St.] - On a high perch above Commercial St., this 1805
house is designed in the Cape Cod architectural style
6 Deacon Josiah Vinton Jr. House [135 Commercial
St.] - This 1830 house has a veranda porch around
3 sides of the building plus attached buildings once
used as barns.
7 Braintree Union Congregational Church - Built in
1811, the church has a high distinctive steeple that is
visible all along the Braintree waterfront.
8 Ezra Sampson/Alden/Bowditch House [18 Quincy
Ave.] - Built in 1798, this one-time elegant and stilldignified residence is enclosed by 20th c. businesses.

Fore River walk
9 The Braintree Yacht Club - A 2.5-acre town-owned
property with finger slips, mooring spaces, public boat
storage, a launching ramp and a clubhouse. Priority
membership in the club is given to Braintree residents.

East Side Neighborhood walk
1.75 MILES/35 MINUTE LOOP
Each street in East Braintree has its own character.
It’s worth while to walk and explore the varied parts
of the neighborhood.

ck

bq Quincy Avenue - A main thoroughfare connects to
the former Quincy Naval Shipyard, employer of 50,000,
people in WWll, including many residents of Braintree.
br Retirement home of Thomas A. Watson - A site on
Quincy Ave. housed Watson, the co-inventor of the
telephone [“Mr. Watson, come here – I want to see
you.”], also founder of the Fore River Shipyard.
bs Shaw Street - Buildings on Shaw Street date back to
1850 [116 and 119 Shaw St. are good examples].
bt Thayer Road - The hilltop on Thayer Road is occupied
by buildings dating mostly from the 1860-1900 era.
ck Thayer Steps - A stairway connects the end of
Thayer Road to Quincy Avenue. Across the street is
Gordon Road, which leads back to the parking lot.

Braintree has 2 miles of walks along its waterfront,
which is a relatively unknown resource for the town.
Begin these walks by parking inside Watson Park,
off Gordon Road, or from the MBTA’s Weymouth
Landing station in East Braintree.

bk Watson Park - The site of the 1883 Fore River Ship &
Engine Co. which moved to Quincy in 1904. Now it has
been reclaimed as a 23-acre park with 8 fields for
baseball/softball, and includes a path along the
Weymouth Fore River for the full length of the park.
bl Francis Toland Walkway - This wooded path,
parallel to the Fore River, connects Watson Park and
Smith Beach.
bm Lt. G. Murray Smith Beach - A crescent of saltwater
beach for Braintree citizens on the Weymouth Fore River.
bn Metropolitan Yacht Club - Formed in 1947, the club
has 115 slips in the former Goodhue’s boat yard. Note:
beyond this spot there are no sidewalks.
bo Patty Whitehouse River Overview - A sign on
Glenrose Avenue leads to a new [2009] monument and
path honoring a local waterfront advocate. A spectacular
view of tankers on the Fore River at its widest point has
been provided by the Braintree Electric Light Department.
bp Audubon Avenue and Arthur Street - On the way
back to Watson Park, these streets offer a roller-coaster walk on the hilly topography of East Braintree, or
you can retrace your steps along the river.

Braintree’s traditional town center has many small
shops and attractions, with an MBTA Red Line station
nearby. Here, several buildings are named for Sylvanus
Thayer, once Superintendent of the U.S. Military
Academy at West Point and founder of Thayer School
of Engineering at Dartmouth College. Born in
Braintree, he funded the construction of the first
public library in town as well as the Thayer Academy.

bl Sunset Lake is a focus of recreational activities,

1 Braintree Town Hall Memorial Mall - A green swath
lined with monuments is the focus of public buildings.
2 Old Thayer Public Library [1874]
3 Town Hall - Built in 1913 as space for town offices,
it was also the first high school.
4 French’s Common - The town’s oldest park.
5 Braintree Historical Society Campus:
• Asa French House [1699] - 766 Washington St. Named
for a civil engineer who opened the town’s first post
office in 1825 and served as Postmaster for 17 years.
• Dr. John J. Gallivan House - 776 Washington St. Built
in 1931 as a wedding present. 3,500 babies were born
in the first-floor medical offices.
• General Sylvanus Thayer birthplace [1720] - 786
Washington St. Once the center of a 92-acre farm
where Thayer was born in 1785.
6 New John Thayer Library [1999] - Adjoins the historic
district, across from French’s Common and Town Hall.
7 South Braintree Square is one of Braintree's principal
shopping areas, with town buildings and small shops.
8 Sacco and Vanzetti site - A 1920 robbery and murder
on Pearl St. led to the 1927 execution of two men, stirring
worldwide protests. In 1977 it was declared unjust due
to the judge’s prejudice against their anarchist views.
9 Washington Park - The quaint traffic circle on Tenney
Road is dominated by one of Braintree’s 0ldest trees.
bkThe Gilbert Bean Museum and Research Library 32 Tenney Road. Houses the Braintree Historical Society.

bm Furlong Park faces the lake with a picnic area and
and resting place. Yoga is often practiced at the park.
bn Braintree High School [1972], home of the “Wamps”
teams, named for American Indian chief Wampatuck
whose name means “White Deer.”

Thayer Academy walk
.75 MILES/15 MINUTES
Thayer Academy is a 34-acre, coed prep school for
grades 6–12. It has 695 students and 8 buildings.

bo Pitkin House [1890] - On the north side of Union
Street, was the residence of a popular math teacher.
bp Sylvanus Thayer House [c. 1790]
bq Thayer Center for the Arts [2008] - At Washington
St. Includes an auditorium, music and dance rooms.
br Frothingham Hall [1930] - Visual arts rooms known
for stained glass windows, attached to the Arts Center.
bs Southworth Library [1965] - Behind Frothingham Hall.
bt Main Building [1877] - Faces Washington St. with its
landmark tower and is still the heart of the campus.
ck Glover Building [1895] -Faces Frothingham Hall.
cl Sawyer Athletic Center/Cahill Campus Center
[1997] - Directly behind the Main Building, these
buildings are primarily for the upper school.
cm Thayer Academy Middle School building [1997]

Hollingsworth/West extension
1.5 MILES/30 MINUTE LOOP

cn Hollingsworth Avenue was laid out as a grand
avenue with a grassy median strip lined with
attractive residences of the 1940’s and 1950’s.
co West Street with its varied architecture, was
designated as a part of Route 128 before the
expressways were built and was named by Boston
Magazine as one of South Shore’s best streets.